What you need to know about installed apps on your kid’s phone

Apps themselves are not dangerous, but many provide children means to make bad choices like sharing too much information about themselves and families, sexting and a host of others. Keeping up with kids online activities could be very frustrating sometimes.

There are many apps out there on the market for kids. Some are for educational purposes others are for entertainment, and so on. Most of these apps are not what they are intended for and parents must be aware of them.

Do you know what Voxer is? If you did hesitate before answering or, you have no idea what that is. Then it is time for you to keep up with the new social apps trending.

Kids are no longer actively using Facebook and the dangers of Facebook is a tip of the iceberg of the online hazards when it comes to online safety on children.

Knowing the new social media favorite apps will help you protect your kids from cyberbullying, sexting, online thefts and inappropriate contents.

Below are some potentially dangerous apps reviewed for parents:

Vaulty

Vaulty is an app that not only stores videos or photos but also snaps a picture of anyone who tries to operate it with the wrong password. Finding Vaulty on your kid’s phone just indicates your child is hiding things you might not approve.

Calculator

Do not be deceived. This app is not a calculator as its name seems. It looks like a regular calculator but has a button when pushed allows its user to hide all sorts of inappropriate materials. According to Sedgrid Lewis, an online safety expert, this is one of the key apps kids hide nude pictures from their parents. A story was reported in a high school in Colorado where teens use this particular app to hide sexting from their parents and teachers.

Poof

Poof is an app that hides other apps on its user’s phone. Users of this app select the apps they want to hide and ‘Poof’ does that. With this app, kids hide questionable apps from their parents. If parents see the app Poof on their kids’ device, then they will need to ask their children what they are hiding.

Blendr

Blendr is a flirting app with over 300 million users. Users of this app meet new people through GPS location services. Users can exchange photos, videos and rate the ‘hotness’ of other users. The issue with Blendr is, it has no authentication requirements and this could serve as the best place for sexual predators who can contact minors and there is, of course, sexting involve.

Line

Line app is relatively new. It is an all-in-one app for calling, texting, sharing of videos and photos. On the surface, it is all good. However, the danger part is in the details. Users can set a time limit on how long a message can last. It has the secret or private chat feature, which is a conducive medium for sexting. Also, it has in-app purchases that allow minors to buy features without the permission from parents because there are not proper monitoring measures in place.

Whisper

Whisper is an app for spreading rumor and secrets. The dangerous part of this app is, users are allowed to post these gossips, secrets and pictures anonymously. These can be ill intended and a perfect ground for cyberbullying. Since all these postings are done based on geographical locations, it makes kids targets for grooming and online predators. Parents should be concerned when they see this app on their child’s devices.

Ask.fm

Ask.fm is an app that enables its users to ask specific individuals anonymous questions. Users who decide to answer these questions can later post them on their personal pages. This app allows bullies to send hurtful questions or anonymous messages to their targets. Predators also lurk around profiling their potential victims with the answers they give to their questions. Ask.fm is not an app parent should allow their kids to have on their devices.

Snapchat

Snapchat allows its user to send photos and videos to their friend’s list. The sender determines the number of minutes the receiver can view these messages. The messages self-destruct after the assigned time. Snapchat is one of the best apps for sexting because most people think it is a safer way to sext. What these people fail to know is that these sexting images can be screenshot and redistributed.

Apps are not bad to say. However, some steps need to be taken by parents to protect their kids from the few ones that are not safe for their children based on the age limits and contents. It is a parent’s responsibility to guide their children on online activities and app usage.

Just as no parent will hand over a knife to their kid without accurately teaching them how to use it, and how dangerous it can be. That is the same way to act on kids online activities.

Parents should keep the following tips in mind

Parents should ensure if possible made it as a rule that kids should ask for permission before downloading any app onto their devices. When kids want to join social media platforms, parents need to check the security settings to be sure it is appropriate for their children.

Children should be educated not to share too much of personal information of themselves, or their family. Moreover, they must keep their passwords to themselves and never share it with their friends.

Parents should encourage their kids to tell them if anyone makes them feel uncomfortable or asking too many personal questions or hurting them online via any social media app or platform.

As a parent, you can use parental control apps like mSpy. With mSpy parental control app, parents get to view a complete list of all apps installed on their kid’s phones including the hidden once. Parents get to see which apps their children frequently use. With this information available to you via mSpy, you can make decisions on which apps are in the best interest of your kids. It also has over 25 features parents can benefit from on complete parental monitoring.

SOFTWARE INTENDED FOR LEGAL USE ONLY. It is the violation of the applicable law and your local jurisdiction laws to install the Licensed Software onto a device you do not own....
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SOFTWARE INTENDED FOR LEGAL USE ONLY. It is the violation of the applicable law and your local jurisdiction laws to install the Licensed Software onto a device you do not own. The law generally requires you to notify owners of the devices, on which you intend to install the Licensed Software. The violation of this requirement could result in severe monetary and criminal penalties imposed on the violator. You should consult your own legal advisor with respect to legality of using the Licensed Software within your jurisdiction prior to installing and using it. You are solely responsible for installing the Licensed Software onto such device and you are aware that mSpy cannot be held responsible.
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